Lucy Steigerwald on Putin vs. Punk

On February 21, four masked Russian women walked into Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Savior Church and sang-shouted a song called "Punk Prayer." The lyrics include "Saint Maria, drive Putin away!" and "Holy shit, Lord's shit." The performance by the feminist punk collective Pussy Riot lasted under a minute, wites Lucy Steigerwald, but a few weeks later Yekaterina Samutsevich, Maria Alyokhina, and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova were charged with "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred."